-
Glen Canyon Dam Adaptive Management Work Group
Agenda Item Form
February 15-16, 2017
Agenda Item Stakeholder’s Perspective: Grand Canyon Wildlands
Council
Purpose of Agenda Item To explain why Grand Canyon Wildlands
Council is an AMWG member, what they hope to achieve through the
Glen Canyon Dam Adaptive Management Program, and what is important
to Grand Canyon Wildlands Councilabout the Program.
Action Requested Information item only; we will answer questions
but no action is requested.
Presenter Larry Stevens, Senior Ecologist, Grand Canyon
Wildlands Council
Previous Action Taken N/A
Relevant Science N/A
Summary of Presentation and Background Information Grand Canyon
Wildlands Council, Inc., a 501(c)(3) non-profit, was founded in
1999 to preserve and protect the natural ecosystems and native
species in the Grand Canyon Ecoregion (GCE). The Council is
affiliated with the Wildlands Network, and is engaged in regional
conservation of the Colorado Plateau and Colorado River. GCWC works
to fulfill its mission by:
Applying scientific conservation principles across spatial and
social scale in the GCE.
Conducting basic and applied scientific studies to further
understanding of the distribution, diversity, and condition of GCE
biota and ecosystems.
Providing scientific and policy advisement, insight, guidance,
and direct assistance to resource stewards, including all levels of
society.
GCWC’s attention in the GCDAMP has focused on pursuit of these
goals and objectives, and intends to continue to do so in the
future to reduce threats to all native species and natural
ecosystems in the CRE and GCE. Dr. Stevens will describe GCWC’s
history, staff, collaborations, and future plans to achieve its
goals and objectives.
T h e M a r y O r t o n C o m p a n y , L L C 1 | P a g e
-
AMWG STAKEHOLDER PERSPECTIVE: GCWC CONSERVATION AND
STEWARDSHIP
IN THE GRAND CANYON ECOREGION • Who we are and what we do • Why
we are an AMWG member • What we hope to achieve through the AMP •
Why is the AMP important to us
Larry Stevens, Senior Ecologist Grand Canyon Wildlands Council,
Inc.
-
GRAND CANYON WILDLANDS COUNCIL, INC.
Kelly Burke, Executive Director Kim Crumbo, Conservation
Director Larry Stevens, Senior Ecologist Board (6) and Staff
(3)
-
History: Started 1996, incorporated in 1999 as a 501(c)(3)
Vision : Ensuring safe havens and safe passages for all the
Grand Canyon ecoregion's native wild life
Objectives: Conservation science across spatial scale Advisement
Collaborative on‐the‐ground actions
Formal alliance with Wildlands Network Membership: 200
conservation organizations Funding: NGOs, contributions, projects,
book sales
-
Collaboratively protecting and
restoring wild nature in the Grand Canyon Ecoregion
AZ Wilderness Coalition
US Bureau of Reclamation
US BLM
US FWS
-
The
Grand Canyon Ecoregion:
35,000 km2, 75 ecosystems, ~25,000 native species
-
NATIONAL /INTERNATIONAL SCALE CONSERVATION Springs Stewardship
Institute The Spine of the Continent ‐Wildlands Network
connectivity John Davis Western Wildways Trek (5 K mi Sonora to BC
2014)
Collaboration ‐Sky Island Alliance, Wild Utah Movie
premieres tonight in Tucson National species and landscape
conservation
REGIONAL‐SCALE CONSERVATION National Monuments
• GSENM – LES Mon. Advisory Panel Chair • GC‐Parashant/Vermilion
Cliffs proclamations 2000 • Greater GC Heritage Nat’l Monument
designation • Advisement – EISs, FS Plans, road networks • GC
Wilderness and Wild & Scenic designation • Wolf recovery • Why
in AMP – collaborating organizations choice
-
Local and Regional Scales What we want to achieve with AMP AMWG
and TWG use of science for
for CRE stewardship Positive, collaborative partnerships
Effective management of physical processes Population monitoring –
all the canaries, native and not Restoration planning and
action
Diverse, viable habitats SMC ‐missing species
restoration
ZTL with Hualapai Tribe Restore HBC and other species to full
range Riparian habitat restoration – 3 sites in Glen Canyon
-
Isles
SIMPLIFIED CONCEPTUAL MODEL OF THE COLORADO RIVER ECOSYSTEM,
SHOWING THE TROPHIC POSITION OF EXTIRPATED AND LISTED FAUNA
Aquatic vegetation Riparian vegetation Uplands vegetation
Climate, Geomorphology, Solar radiation, Dam, Tributary Effects,
Recreation
Aquatic 1o consumers Riparian 1o consumers Upland 1o
consumers
Aquatic 2o consumers Riparian 2o consumers Upland 2o
consumers
Aquatic 3o consumers Riparian 3o consumers Upland 3o
consumers
1o decomposers
2o decomposers
3o decomposers
Glen Canyon Reach
Upper Lake Mead Reach
Lower Canyon Reach
Marble Canyon Reach
Permian Reach
Furnace Flats Reach
Time 2 Time X
Lower Granite Gorge Lower Cyn Reach
Muav Gorge
S+R
RBS
BTCRTC
CPM
SWWF YBCU ZTL
CRO
MskR VBF
CACOBdgr PRFA
WBS
KAS
RLF NLF
HBC
BAEA PEFA SpS
SNPL
KEY: Fed. endangered
Fed or AZ threatened Not listed
Active mgt/mon Passive mgt
Formerly listed
Up. Gran. Grg. Isles Reach
Time 1
BobC
GAQU
NGM
DrMs
WHM
MtnL Rccn
GdsW FCtw
MSOW
-
Non‐native Watercress Endangered Kanab Ambersnail
Vaseys Paradise Native Crimson Monkeyflower
Local Scale – Vaseys Paradise: A Spring, A Snail, A Management
Dilemma
-
Riparian vegetation, including marshes developed from 1965‐1982,
1987‐present.
Respond positively to fluctuating flows, but scoured by high
flows, reduced by low flux flows
-
Grand Canyon
Waterbirds: 60 Species and Counting
American Avocet
Osprey
-
Falco peregrinus: the “Wandering Scythe”
Grand Canyon supports the largest breeding
population of peregrine falcon on any land management unit in
the co‐terminous
United States.
Top predator in the CRE
90 % of prey biomass is waterbirds, mostly related to post‐dam
clearwater
flow.
-
1. 10.5% of GC plants are non‐native (same proportion in UK)
2. Non‐native biodiversity is highest in the most species‐rich
and productive habitats (i.e., riparian habitats, springs)
3. GCWC assisted NPS eliminate 4 highly invasive plant
species
COLLABORATIVE NON‐NATIVE PLANT MANAGEMENT
Ravenna grass: Nearly eliminated from GRCA but requires
monitoring
-
SOUTHWESTERN WILLOW FLYCATCHER
TAMARISK CONTROVERSY
Tamarisk is poor habitat in lower CR (Ohmart et al.)
versus Tamarisk is good habitat
in Grand Canyon (Brown et al.) ~ 30 neotropical migrant bird
spp
nest in it in GC 88‐95% of ~300 willow flycatcher
nests in Arizona are in tamarisk CRE is designated as critical
habitat
for endangered WIFL Endangered SWFL extirpated from
Grand Canyon during AMP
-
GRAND CANYON RIPARIAN RESTORATION: TAMARISK MANAGEMENT AND
CONTROL
2001‐2014 LF Tamarisk Project • 1996 Experimental flood
conducted in March and
successfully avoided tamarisk recruitment • 2000 flows
demonstrated that poorly timed floods
result in widespread establishment of tamarisk • Initiation of
AWPF‐GLCA‐GCWC Lees Ferry project
Replacement of 10 ac of tamarisk at Lees Ferry Tamarisk removal
from GC tributaries, 2002‐2006
(Labor‐intensive, but effective)
-
January 2001
THE LEES FERRY TAMARISK PROJECT 2001 ‐ 2014
-
May 2002
-
Plantings protected from wiley, relentless beavers
September 2002
-
June 2005
-
April 2014
-
Biological Control: Tamarisk leaf beetle Defoliates trees and
slowly kills them,
but no habitat replacement
-
Remote Hidden Slough Restoration Site (Colorado River
Mile ‐6.5R)
Glen Canyon National Recreation Area, Arizona
Tamarisk cover
-
2008
2009
2014
-
Leopard Frog Marsh (‐9L) Habitat Rehabilitation Planning,
Compliance, Habitat Reconstruction
2010‐2015
-
Working with Collaborators: Prescott College and Grand Canyon
Wildlands Council
Excavating Leopard Frog Springs Habitat in Glen Canyon, March
2015
-
Clem
Restoration of Pakoon Springs, NW Arizona
2006
-
2012
-
Biennial Research on the Colorado Plateau. U.S. Geological
Survey Scientific Investigations Report 2016,
http://dx.doi.org/10.3133. In press. 2016 Hershler, R., H-P Liu,
and L.E. Stevens. A new springsnail (Hydrobiidae: Pyrgulopsis) from
the lower Colorado River basin, northwestern Arizona. Western North
American Naturalist. 2016 Stevens, L.E. and A.G. Scarbrough.
Additions to the robber fly fauna of southern Nevada, USA (Diptera:
Asilidae). Journal of the Arizona-Nevada Academy of Sciences
46:42-49. 2015 Burke, K.J., K.A. Harcksen, L.E. Stevens, R.J.
Andress, and R.J. Johnson. Collaborative rehabilitation of Pakoon
Springs in Grand Canyon-Parashant National Monument, Arizona. Pp.
312-330 Huenneke, L.F., C. van Riper III, and K.A. Hayes-Gilpin,
editors. The Colorado Plateau VI: Science and Management at the
Landscape Scale. University of Arizona Press, Tucson.
Tamarix (Tamaricaceae), Opsius stactogalus (Cicidellidae), and
litter fungi interactions limit riparian plant establishment.
Advances in Entomology 3:65-81. 2015 Stevens, L.E., K.J. Burke,
J.R. Spence, L. Pilkington, and C. Hughes. Colorado River riparian
ecosystem rehabilitation in Glen and Grand Canyons, Arizona. Pp.
353-376
The Colorado Plateau VI: Science and Management at the Landscape
Scale. University of Arizona Press, Tucson. 2015 Kreamer, D.K.,
L.E. Stevens, and J.D. Ledbetter. Groundwater dependent ecosystems
– Science, challenges, and policy. Pp. 205-230 in S.M. Adelana,
Editor. Groundwater. Nova Science Publishers, Inc., Hauppauge (NY).
ISBN 978-1-63321-759-1. 2014 Ledbetter, J.D., L.E. Stevens, B.
Brandt, and A.E. Springer. Springs Online: a database to improve
understanding and stewardship of springs ecosystem. Springs
Stewardship Institute, Museum of Northern Arizona, Flagstaff.
Available online at: springsdata.org. 2014 Springer, A.E., L.E.
Stevens, J.D. Ledbetter, E.M. Schaller, K.M. Gill, and S.B. Rood.
Ecohydrology and stewardship of Alberta springs ecosystems.
Ecohydrology DOI: 10.1002/eco.1596. 2014 Stevens, L.E. and A.S.
Menke. Biogeography of Ammophila (Hymenoptera: Sphecidae) in the
Grand Canyon ecoregion, southwestern USA. Western North American
Naturalist 74:216-222. 2013 Stevens, L. The Colorado River in Grand
Canyon: A River Runner’s Map and Guide to its Natural and Human
History. Grand Canyon Wildlands Council, Flagstaff. 2012
Scarbrough, A.G., L.E. Stevens, and C.R. Nelson. Synopsis of the
albibarbis complex of Efferia Coquillett from the Grand Canyon
region, southwestern USA, with description of new species (Diptera:
Asilidae).. Pan-Pacific Entomologist 88:58-86. 2012 Siemion, G.M.
and L.E. Stevens. Is riparian plant establishment limited by
tamarisk herbivore interactions in the southwestern USA? Journal of
the Arizona-Nevada Academy of Sciences. 44:46-58.
Global Advances in Biogeography. InTech Publications, Rijeka.
ISBN: 978-953-51-0454-4 . 2012 Stevens, L.E. The biogeographic
significance of a large, deep canyon: Grand Canyon of the Colorado
River, Southwestern USA. Pp. 169-208 in Stevens, L.E., editor.
Have aridland springs restoration projects been effective in
restoring hydrology, geomorphology, and invert
opogenic disturbance? Collaboration for Environmental Evidence
Review 10-002 (SR87); http://www.env
ado River ecosystem below Glen Canyon Dam. Pp. 6-11 in U.S.
Geological Survey. General Core Monitori ng and Research Center,
Flagstaff.
Foraging ecology of peregrine falcons along the dam-regulated
Colorado River, Grand Canyon, Arizona. Meadows National Wildlife
Refuge, southern Nevada, USA. The Southwestern Naturalist
54:331-340.
a biogeography in the Grand Canyon ecoregion, southwestern
U.S.A. Annals of the Entomological Society of
and productivity at an undisturbed spring, in comparison with
adjacent grazed riparian and upland habitats. Pp. ica: Ecology and
Conservation. University of Arizona Press, Tucson. of discharge of
springs. Hydrogeology Journal DOI 10.1007/s10040-008-0341-y.
R.A. Parnell, D. Kreamer, and S. Flora. A comprehensive springs
classification system: integrating geomorphic, etsky, editors.
Aridland springs in North America: ecology and conservation.
University of Arizona Press, Tucs
ings ecosystem ecology and management. Pp. 332-346 in Stevens,
L.E. and V. J. Meretsky, editors. Aridland on. a of Ash Meadows
National Wildlife Refuge, southern Nevada, U.S.A. Journal of the
Arizona-Nevada Academy of
Aridland Springs in North America: Ecology and Conservation.
University of Arizona Press, Tucson. stem ecology and management.
Pp. 3-10 in Stevens, L.E. and V. J. Meretsky, editors. Aridland
springs in
aphy of aquatic and semi-aquatic Heteroptera in the Grand Canyon
ecoregion, southwestern USA. Monogr
sie, Jr. Biogeography of Culicidae (Diptera) in the Grand Canyon
region, Arizona, USA. Pan-Pacific Ento 2008. Background: wildlife
and flow relationships in the Verde River watershed. Pp. 51-70 in
Haney, J.A., D.S.
Ecological implications of Verde River flows. The Nature
Conservancy, Phoenix. ah. Argia 17(4):21.
In press Junghans, K., A.E. Springer, L.E. Stevens, and J.D.
Ledbetter. Springs ecosystem distribution and density for improving
stewardship. Freshwater Science xx: xx-xxx. 2016 Ledbetter, J.D.,
L.E. Stevens, M. Hendrie, and A. Leonard. Ecological inventory and
assessment of springs ecosystems in Kaibab National Forest,
northern Arizona. Pp. 25-40 in Ralston, B.E, editor. Proceedings of
the 12th Biennial Conference of Research on the Colorado Plateau.
U.S. Geological Survey Scientific Investigations Report 2015-5180.
2016 Ledbetter, J.D., L.E. Stevens, M. Hendrie, and A.G. Leonard.
Ecological inventory and assessment of springs ecosystems in Kaibab
National Forest, northern Arizona, Chapter in Ralston, B.E.,
and
C. van Riper III, editors.
More than 120 peer‐reviewed and in 2015 Simieon, G. and L.E.
Stevens.
Riper III, and K.A. Hayes-Gilpin, editors. popular publications
related to CRE in Huenneke, L.F., C. van water and biological
resources
ecology, status, 2012 Stevens, L.E. Editor. management and
policy
Global Advances in Biogeography. InTech Publications, Rijeka.
ISBN: 978-953-51-0454-4. Available on-line at:
http://cdn.intechopen.com/pdfs/34661/InTech-The_biogeographic_significance_of_a_large_deep_canyon_grand_canyon_of_the_colorado_river_southwestern_usa.pdf
2012 Stevens, L.E. and G. Simieon. Tamarisk reproductive phenology
and Colorado River hydrography, southwestern USA. Journal of the
Arizona-Nevada Academy of Sciences 44:46–58. 2011 Mortenson, S.G.,
P.J. Weisberg, and L.E. Stevens. The influence of floods and
precipitation history on Tamarix establishment in Grand Canyon,
Arizona: consequences for flow regime restoration. Biological
Invasions DOI 10.1007/s10530-011-0139-z. Available on-line at
http://www.springerlink.com/content/86703g18035gt74x/fulltext.pdf .
2011 Davis, C.J., A.E. Springer, and L.E. Stevens. ebrate and plant
species composition comparable to natural springs with minimal
anthr ironmentalevidence.org/ Documents/
Completed_Reviews/SR87.pdf. 2010 Stevens, L.E. History of
monitoring the Color ng Plan for the Glen Canyon Dam Adaptive
Management Program, Grand Canyon monitori 2009 Stevens, L.E., B.T.
Brown, and K. Rowell. The Southwestern Naturalist 54:284-299. 2009
Crews, S. and L.E. Stevens. Spiders of Ash 2009 Stevens, L.E. and
R.A. Bailowitz. Odonat America 102(2):261-274. Abstract available
at: http://www.bioone.org/doi/abs/10.1603/008.102.0208. 2008 Perla,
B.S. and L.E. Stevens. Biodiversity 230-243 in Stevens, L.E. and V.
J. Meretsky, editors. Aridland Springs in North Amer 2008 -pringer,
A.E. and L.E. Stevens. Spheres 2008 Springer, A.E., L.E. Stevens,
D. Anderson, hydrogeochemical, and ecological criteria. Pp. 49-75
in Stevens, L.E. and V. J. Mer on. 2008 Stevens. L.E. Every last
drop: future of spr Springs in North America: Ecology and
Conservation. University of Arizona Press, Tucs 2008 Stevens, L.E.
and R.A. Bailowitz. Odonat Sciences 40:128-135. 2008 Stevens, L.E.
and V. J. Meretsky, editors. 2008 Stevens, L.E. and V. J. Meretsky.
Springs ecosy North America: ecology and conservation. University
of Arizona Press, Tucson. 20088 tevens, L.E. and J.T. Polhemus.
Biogeogr aphs of the Western North American Naturalist 4:38-76.
2008 Stevens, L.E., F.B. Ramberg, and R.F. Dar
All proceeds mologist 84:92-109.
2008 Stevens, L.E., D.S. Turner, and V. Supplee. Turner, A.E.
Springer, J.C. Stromberg, go to GCWC L.E. Stevens, P.A. Pearthree,
and V. Supplee. 2007 Bailowitz, R. and L.Stevens. Argia hinei in Ut
2007 Stevens, L. Water and biodiversity on the Colorado Plateau.
Plateau: The Land & People of the Colorado Plateau 4(1): 48-55.
2007 Stevens, L.E., T.L. Griswold, O. Messinger, W.G. Abrahamson,
II, and T. J. Ayers. 2007. Plant and pollinator diversity in
northern Arizona. The Plant Press 31 (1):5-7. 2007 Stevens, L.E.,
J.T. Polhemus, R.S. Durfee, and C.A.Olson. Large, mixed-species
dispersal flights of predatory and scavenging aquatic Heteroptera
and Coleoptera, Northern Arizona, USA. Western North American
Naturalist 67:587-592.
https://ojs.lib.byu.edu/wnan/index.php/wnan/article/view/1611/1937.
https://ojs.lib.byu.edu/wnan/index.php/wnan/article/view/1611/1937http://www.bioone.org/doi/abs/10.1603/008.102.0208http:ironmentalevidence.orghttp://www.springerlink.com/content/86703g18035gt74x/fulltext.pdfhttp://cdn.intechopen.com/pdfs/34661/InTech
-
Photo: Paul Hirt